"Yeah, we weren't," Edward scoffed as Alphonse helped him climb out of the room Ross and Brosh tied him down in. They raced over to the laboratory, only to find the entrance blocked with guards. "A guard placed at a suspicious building, huh?" Edward commented.
"That's suspicious," Alphonse added. "How do we get in?"
"We could make our own entrance."
"They'd notice the light from the transmuted reaction."
"In that case..." Edward had Alphonse jump up off his armored hands and pulled at the barbed wired top to the concrete wall, making a rope. He pulled it down, making a rope for Alphonse to climb on. They jumped down on the other side and scanned the wall they faced. There was a door there, but it was locked up tight. "It's locked here, too?" Edward sighed. He scanned the building some more until he found an open vent. He had Alphonse help him up again as he climbed into it. "Al, wait here," he ordered.
"Will you be all right by yourself?" The younger Elric asked.
"All right or not, with your huge size you can't get through here, right?" Edward laughed as he climbed in fully.
Just as he crawled his way in, he could hear Alphonse sigh, "I didn't get this big because I wanted to."
Edward crawled his way slowly through the vent, careful not to make any noise to attract any guards below. It seemed as the more he crawled through, the tighter the space got. "Damn it," Edward muttered. "It's even tighter in here than I thought. I couldn't have gotten through here if I were regular-sized. Luckily, my body is smaller." Edward paused, and realized he insulted himself, cried out, "Oh no! I just called myself a tiny little pipsqueak!"
He found a lose panel and banged it, breaking it so he jumped out. In the corridor, he saw lights on the side of the walls. "Lights on, huh?" He sneered. "'Not currently in use' my foot."
He made his way through the corridor and ended up in a large room. There, in the center, was a huge transmutation circle with dried, old blood splattered around it. He gasped, praying that the blood didn't belong to Evelyn. "What is this?" He sputtered, taking in the surroundings. "Is it possible that this is for transmuting a Philosopher's Stone?"
"That is correct," A voice replied. Edward was not expecting a response. In the shadows, he could see a suit of armor wearing several pieces of cloth as if they were clothing. "I don't know who you are kid, but if you can tell that just by looking at the transmutation circle."
"Who are you, pops?" Edward demanded, staring straight at it in the shadows.
It stepped out of the shadows, approaching Edward. "I am the one charged with guarding this place," it stated. "I'll go by the name 'Number 48' for now. And by the way, I'm not your pop. I have orders to dispose of any outsiders that come in here. Don't think ill of me, kid."
"I could say the same," Edward added. Using alchemy, Edward turned his automail arm into a blade. "Don't go thinking ill of me once you're defeated by a 'kid'."
"You're an alchemist, are you?" Number 48 asked. He dashed up and was in Edward's face. "Let's have a look at what you've got."
The suit of armor slashed his sword downwards and upwards. Edward used his metal arm to block both attacks. "Your prosthetic arm saved your life," Number 48 laughed. "However, my trusty sword will pierce even steel!"
Edward jabbed Number 48 before kicking him straight in the gut. It slid back, still remaining balance. "Hey, hey, hey!" Edward smirked, the pieces falling in quickly. "Let me guess, pops, you're hollow on the inside, aren't you?"
"I'm impressed that you realized that," 48 awed.
"I spar against someone like you all the time, you see."
"Oh, so there are those like me on the outside too, are there?"
"Well, that's annoying. Imagine, there's some other idiot out there who came up with the idea of bonding a soul to a suit of armor!"
"Let me introduce myself once again. '48' is my condemned prisoner number. In life, or should I say, back when I had a living body, I was known as Slicer, the mass murderer."
"So you are a condemned prisoner. Tell me, they use condemned prisoners in this place as ingredients to make Philosopher's Stones, right?"
"That is difficult for me to answer. They just recognized my skills, gave me this body, and made me the watchdog of this place."
"Which means, you have a seal that served as the medium between soul and armor."
"Yes, that is correct." Slicer pulled down the cloth on his helmet and lifted it up, revealing a bloody seal on the back of his helmet. "This is the bloodseal," he informed. "If you destroy this, you win."
"It's very kind of you to show me your weak spot," Edward remarked.
"I'm the type that seeks out little tension during a fight, you see."
"As long as you're being kind, could you happen to tell me where you're keeping a girl named Evelyn at and let us go? I figure I might as well ask."
"There's no way a mass murderer would do nothing and let his prey escape along with a hostage when they're right in from of him. Now, here I come!"
The two ran up and engaged in a fight, landing a few hits on each other while blocking each other's attacks at the same time. Suddenly, Edward's metal shoulder tightened. What happened?! He thought. My shoulder feels weird out of sorts.
Taking advantage of this distraction, Slicer landed a stab and a few more slashes at Edward. Winry's voice filled Edward's head, informing him that although the automail is less prone to rusting, the strength factor as went down so he shouldn't be so reckless.
I have to settle this quickly...or I'm in trouble! He gulped as he jabbed Slicer while it took the opening and attempted to decapitate Edward. Edward ducked but Slicer kicked him in the stomach, sending him back. It tried to stab Edward but he did a black flip and got back on his feet. They exchanged a few more slashes, Edward receiving a gash on his shoulder, and then Slicer had Edward cornered on a post. Edward jumped as Slicer slashed, leaving a deep gash on the post and they meet blades. Slicer took another stab at the ground and Edward dodged, cutting his face in the process. He sat there, panting to get a quick breather.
"You're just like a monkey, huh?" Slicer chuckled.
"Hey, what was that?" Edward shouted, responding to the taunt.
"I'm so glad! It's been so long since I've had any worthy prey! But given your wound and exhaustion, the end of the battle is within sight. Right about now, my companion is finishing off your partner."
"Is this companion of yours strong?"
"Yes, he's strong. He's still weaker than I am though."
Edward laughed, releasing his concerns. "In that case, I've got nothing to worry about," he stood back up. "I've been fighting him for a long time now, and I've never beaten him!"
"Oh, your brother is that good, is he?" Slicer commented. "Then I'll have to hurry up and defeat you."
As a distraction, Edward stared down the corridor and shouted, "Al! Now!"
"What?" Slicer fell for the distraction, readying himself, facing the corridor. Once it realized it was a trick, it turned around just to see Edward slice its helmet off with his automail blade. "That was dirty!" It cried.
"There's no such thing as dirty in a fight!" Edward yelled.
Now that the head and body were separated, Edward could take a break. He transmuted his arm back to normal. "What's the matter?" The helmet, asked, confused as Edward picked it up. "You still haven't destroyed my bloodseal. Hurry up and destroy it—"
"There's something I need to ask you about," Edward said.
"The Philosopher's Stone?"
"Why don't you tell me everything you know about it?"
"I can't."
"Hey, now, beaten dogs don't get to show me up."
"I haven't been beaten yet."
Edward turned around to see the headless armor jab at him with the sword. He jumped in a nick of time, suffering a gash at his side and throwing the helmet in the process. "Impossible!" He gasped.
"I forgot to mention, this mass murderer Slicer," the head spoke.
"Was actually a pair of brothers," the headless armor piped up.
"An independent head and body?" Edward sneered. "That reeks of foul play!"
"Who was it who said that there's no such thing as dirty in a fight?" The head reminded as a taunt.
"Now, let's begin the second round, short stuff," the headless armor prepared itself for trouble.
"Don't call me short!" Edward screamed.
"I'm not giving you any time to transmute!" The headless armor was up in his face, slashing away .
Damn, I'm losing too much blood, Edward thought as he dodged, each time the recovery time increasing. I'm starting to feel dizzy. The headless armor kneed him, sending him flying into a post. This is bad.... He thought, watching the armor dadh up to him. This is bad...gonna die...gonna die...gonna die...!
However, the young-minded alchemist recognized the move as similar to the one to Scar and came up with a plan to counter it. Edward clapped his hands together, alchemic sparks flying so he prepared to blow the thing up as the armor stabbed him in the head. Last minute, Edward ducked and placed them on the stomach of the armor, breaking it in half
Edward crouched down, panting, glad he could finally take a breather. "You reminded me of someone I can't stand," he laughed. "Now I've gone and done the same thing he did, haven't I?"
"Now you've done it, you little brat!" The upper body waved its arms around, throwing a tantrum.
"That's just gross!" Edward jumped.
"My brother..." the helmet cried.
"I hate to say it, but we've lost," the armor stopped wriggling in defeat.
"You're not going to tell me you're actually three brothers, are you?" Edward squirmed, eyeing the lower half of the armor.
"No, no," upper half laughed, waving its arm in assurance. "Kid, hurry up and destroy us."
"Don't ask me to become a murderer," Edward said.
"With bodes like these, are we even people?" Helmet sighed.
"If I don't consider you to be people, then that would mean I don't consider my brother to be a person," Edward stated. "My brother is human. You guys are also human. That's why I don't want to kill you."
The helmet burst out laughing, "We two, as brothers, have been stealing, destroying, and killing for as long as we can remember. And now, to be treated as humans for the first time, after taking the forms we have...it's hilarious! Kid, as a parting gift, I will tell you everything. The ones who made the Philosopher's Stone, and ordered us to protect this place..."
Suddenly, a sword came out of no where and pierced the head. Despite hitting something, the sword continued to fly until it stuck to the post Edward was leaning up against. A man stepped out from the shadows, walking casually over to the sword and pulling it out. "That was a close one," he sighed. "Number 48, you should know better than to talk about things that don't concern you."
The upper half of the armor began to freak. "Brother! Brother! Brother!" It cried.
The man sneered, pulling out the sword and slicing the helmet in half. Edward gasped at how casually this man did that. The man approached the armor and began to stab at its blood seal with the sword. "Quit your blabbering!" He shouted. "You just almost killed one of our precious sacrifices. What would we have done then if that happened, huh?"
The armor stopped moving and the man gave it a few more jabs before pulling the sword out. Edward recognized the sword as the one Evelyn used in battle and left mostly in the sheaths of her belt. He stood up, still leaning against the post. "That sword...it belonged to my best friend...what have you done to her?!" Edward shouted.
The man pointed the very tip at Edward's throats and he silenced himself immediately, sucking in a breath so that his throat wouldn't be a close to the tip. "Fullmetal Pipsqueak, shut your mouth," he hissed. "As much as I would love to stuff your friend's toy into your throat, I can't. Speaking of which, follow me, if you really what to see her again and take her back alive."
Edward gasped watching as the man disappeared into the shadows. He...was getting Evelyn back that easily? Was the Slicer brothers really the only obstacle in the way? He didn't need to plan a sneak attack just to take her back? Although Edward senses this may be a trap, he couldn't wash the feeling of relief that he was going to get his beloved friend back.
The man stuck his head back out and saw Edward again. "You really what to take her back, right?" He asked. "It's really becoming bothersome to take care of that human."
"She isn't bothersome!" Edward snapped, getting up and jogging over to where the man was. "And I'm coming!"
*~*~*~*~*~
The man led Edward down a dark corridor, not even slowing down one bit. Due to Edward's injuries, he had a much harder time than usual keeping up with the man. Eventually, they were in a dark room. Edward was horrified at the sight in front of him. There, Evelyn sat, bound to a chair with rope, missing her left arm. She had a dirty, bloody bandage on one of her forearms. Her cheeks were sunken and had dark circles under her eyes, as if she was barely fed, given enough water, or had enough sleep. A voluptuous woman stood behind her, her fingernails extended so they were hovering over her throat. "Evelyn!" Edward cried, about to dash up to her friend.
"Edward?!" Evelyn cried as well. "What are you doing here? Get out, before they--"
The woman silenced her by pressing her nails up against her throat. Edward stopped, afraid that if he even moved his toe a single centimeter, her throat would be sliced to ribbons in front of his eyes. "You said she was bothersome!" He snapped at the man, who grinned evilly. "You barely even took care of her!"
"You troublesome boy, how did you find this place?" The woman asked.
"It doesn't matter right now!" Edward shouted. "You promised me my best friend, so hand her over!"
The woman sighed and retracted her nails. Evelyn let out a breath, glad she could breathe again. The man and woman exchanged places so now the woman was in front of Edward and the man stood behind Evelyn. "Before we hand her over, we have something to say," the woman stated. "You've stuck your nose too far in places you weren't supposed to go. We advise that you stop now, seeing how much you already know."
"And what if I don't?" Edward challenged.
"Then the next time we meet, we'll simply do this to you," the man smirked, demonstrating what they would do to Edward on Evelyn. Edward watched in horror as the man, who had Evelyn's sword up at her throat, slide it across it as if it was butter. It slid almost as smoothly as well. Evelyn coughed and choked as a waterfall of blood poured from the wound and leaned her head over on the chair, unconscious from the sudden massive loss of blood from her weakened body. "EVELYN!!!" He screamed, more horrified than earlier. He angrily turned towards the woman, wanting to kill them both for what they did. "This wasn't part of the deal!" He shouted.
"We said we'd return her alive," she smirked. "We never said anything about hurting her."
The man walked up to the woman and he leaned over, face-to-face with Edward. He smirked. "Who are you people?" Edward demanded. "What do you mean, 'plan and sacrifice' earlier?"
"Oh, my, the pipsqueak is raring to go," the man taunted.
"You shut up with that pipsqueak talk!"
"A pipsqueak is a pipsqueak, right?"
Edward kicked upwards and the man bent back, nearly getting kicked under the chin. "I don't like fighting," he sighed. "It's painful when you get hurt, you know."
Edward clapped his hands together, "This is fight that you started, so--"
POP! Edward suddenly couldn't feel his left arm. It fell limply at his side and he glanced at it in horror. "Technical difficulties," the woman sighed.
"WHAT?!" Edward screamed.
"Lucky me!" Laughed the man as he approached Edward again, this time kneeing him hard in the ribs. Edward choked, the wind knocked out of him as the man held him by the briad. "You're fortunate your arm broke," the man commented as he let go of Edward. "You're getting off without being hurt too badly."
"Listen to me, boy," the woman lectured. "Don't ever forget that you're being allowed to live."
As Edward lost consciousness, he heard the woman add, "We can't have this boy and the girl showing up again. Let's burn this place down."
*~*~*~*~*~
The building began to shake as stories upon stories crumbled, bring up dust. Alphonse and Number 66, or by his preferred name "Barry the Chopper" watched as the building began to collapse. Brosh and Ross appeared just in time. "Sergeant, take cover!" Ross yelled, approaching the two hallow walking suits of armor. "What are you doing? Get out of there!"
"But Brother and Eve are still inside!" Alphonse protested.
"What?" Ross screamed.
"You know what this means," Barry said. "Time to hightail it outta here!"
He ran outside the laboratory's perimeter and Brosh tried to stop him. "Hey, you!" He shouted, running after Barry.
"You'd better hurry away from here too!"
"Hold it!"
"Brother! Eve!" Alphonse shouted, stepping towards the collapsing building, but Ross stopped him.
"Take cover!" She yelled. "You'll end up getting caught in it too!"
"But...!" Alphonse sputtered.
Something blew up in their faces and a man with palm tree leaves-like hair emerged from the white smoke, carrying two unconscious bodies over his shoulder, both being Edward and Evelyn. "There you are!" He grinned. "I brought some presents for you!"
"Brother! Eve!" Alphonse shouted, approaching the two bodies as the man laid them down.
The man continued to grin, "Their lives aren't in danger, but both of them lost a lot of blood, so you should hurry up and take them to a hospital. Also, you should keep a closer watch on him to make sure he don't do anything too crazy. He is a precious resource after all."
"Who are you?" Ross asked.
"Lieutenant Ross! Quickly!" Brosh came back, losing Barry.
"Sergent, give me a hand!"
"They're both covered in blood!"
"Talk later!" Ross turned to the man who rescued Edward and Evelyn. "Hurry and get out of--" She yelled but stopped herself. The man was gone, no sign if he was actually there. "What? He's gone?' She sputtered.
The crumbling rubble brought Ross back as the building was on the verge of burying all of them. Seeing that there was no time to spare, Brosh and Ross each took Edward and Evelyn respectively on their backs and ran for their lives out of the laboratory. Just in time, several cars pulled up. Colonel Mustang and his team got out from the cars. "Sir, we are too late--" Lieutenant Hawkeye started.
Colonel ignored his Lieutenant when he saw the bleeding and unconscious Evelyn. "EVELYN!!!" He screamed.
"Colonel!" Brosh and Ross shouted.
"What happened?!" He demanded.
"Both of them are injured badly!" Ross informed. "We need to hurry them to the hospital!"
"Come into our cars!" Lieutenant told them as they helped load the two bodies and officers into the cars.
As they did so, Alphonse couldn't help but thinking what Barry had told him; How do you know you're not a puppet created by your so-called brother?